Wait What?
by lucayah
Summary: But she knew the feelings would go away, so she just had to avoid Lucas for a bit. That usually worked. Even though he would end up getting a little suspicious. Lucaya, set before the Texas trilogy.


Maya usually listened in class, no matter how boring it was. Okay, that was a lie. More than half the time, she didn't listen in math class, because it was just so boring. Even Riley seemed bored (although she was too much of a good girl to not listen), and Farkle didn't seem to think much of the current lesson. He probably knew it already, or something. And then there was Lucas.

He also seemed bored, which was a bit out of the ordinary. Because even if he was bored in class, he never showed it. At least, never that Maya had seen. He was Ranger Rick, the Moral Compass. He couldn't act... bored.

Well, he never had before, anyway.

Maya straightened up from her previous position, which had been slouched over, her chin resting on her crossed arms. Which had been on her desk. She directed her confused gaze towards Lucas, and he seemed to immediately straighten up as well, as if to say, "What? I wasn't bored-acting. I'm not bored."

Did he...? Yep. He was bored. He had been bored in class...just...wow. Maya was genuinely surprised, and she shot a knowing smirk at him. He barely responded, raising an eyebrow. She knew he wouldn't lie or anything, but she couldn't use it against him. They were friends. But he had actually been bored in class, and she had witnessed it. And Lucas knew it. Maya knew exactly what she'd do with this information.

Manipulate him. Someday, anyway. She'd have to store this information. She glanced over to Riley, who she was sitting next to. The girl seemed to be daydreaming, but immediately glanced and smiled at Maya when it was brought to her attention that Maya had peeked at her. Then, the amazing bell rang, signaling the end of class.

Everybody immediately shot up out of their chairs, flooding into the hallways. Riley and Lucas stayed behind, and Maya strolled out of the classroom. But in reality, she waited outside for Riley to come out.

 _"Oh, he's like a brother to-"_

Maya easily hid her surprise when that thought weasled its way into her thoughts. More specifically, Lucas and Riley's relationship. She mostly thought their relationship was cute, and she didn't really think of herself and Lucas as a couple, or even mutual crushes. She honestly wasn't sure-she told everybody that they were just friends, and that Riley and Lucas were the ones "dating", if you could even call it that.

She actually thought it was highly possible for her to have feelings for Lucas, but she never dwelled on it long enough to let herself figure it out. Because if she did figure it out, and she did have feelings for Lucas, then she wouldn't be able to stop herself from being overwhelmed by heaving amounts of guilt whenever she'd look at Lucas and Riley together. So Maya concluded that she'd rather not know. But in the back of her mind, she already knew what she felt for him.

Her breath caught in her throat, violently (albeit mentally) shoving her particularly Ranger Rick-like thoughts away from her mind. Things like that only surfaced every once in awhile, when she felt particularly lonely, because her mother kept taking the late shifts. But she knew the feelings would go away, so she just had to avoid Lucas for a bit. That usually worked. Even though he would end up getting a little suspicious.

"Maya, you okay?" Came Lucas's voice, and she immediately cooled her expression. Probably too cool, calm and casual. Whatever. She chuckled half-heartedly at his question, as if it made no sense why he was asking.

"Why wouldn't I be?" She responded, her fake laugh still lingering in her voice. Keep it cool, Maya.

"You just seemed a little...I dunno. Forget about it."  
"Hey, you guys! Everything okay?" Riley walked up behind Lucas, who stood in the doorway with a worried expression. "I got my pencil sharpener."  
"Everything's fine, Riley." Maya assured her, using her practiced voice of 'I'm fine. Don't worry about me.'  
"Lucas?" Riley asked uncertainly, because Lucas still seemed a bit worried. And his gaze was still on Maya.  
"Well, I'll go. Class." Maya awkwardly excused herself, still needing desperately to get away from Lucas, even though she did her best to hide it. She turned around, walking away from the conversation. She did her best to pace herself.

"Maya," Riley called after her, "Bay window in 3 hours." And Maya nodded reluctantly.

Riley tried to prompt Maya to spill it, but the blonde kept insisting that she was fine.

Before class started, Lucas went to Maya at the lockers while Riley was in the bathroom. Maya had been doing her best to stay away from him, but he'd cornered her.

"Maya, what's wrong? You've been avoiding me again."

"What are you talking about, Huckleberry? I don't avoid you." She chuckled slightly, but it came out dry, and obviously fake. She was so used to doing this, why did it fail this time? She decided to drop the 'smile and chuckle' method, her lips pursing into a straight line. Even though that probably wasn't all that convincing.

"Yes, you do, Maya." His voice was serious, and she could tell he wasn't joking around, and that he wasn't going to just drop this like he had before. "Every once in awhile, you start avoiding me, and then you go back to normal. Tell me what's wrong." And he really, really, wasn't joking.

But Maya couldn't just tell him all her secrets.

"I'm just...it's fine. I'm fine. Are we done here?" She did her best to sound impatient. But her voice came out unconvincing, instead.  
"Come on, Maya. If it has to do with me, why won't you tell me?"

"I'm fine." Maya practically spat, and immediately regretted it. 'He deserves it', she told herself. 'He's bothering me. He should know that.' Then she worried about if it would ruin their friendship or something. They never really fought, but they didn't have that sort of friendship. They just teased, they were never seriously invested like that. But here they were.

"Then why are you avoiding me?" He said back impatiently, and she knew right then that he wasn't kidding around, and he wouldn't let her move an inch until she fessed up.  
"It's not about you, Ranger Rick. Drop it."  
"No." He said, and he was serious. "I want to know what's wrong. But not for me. Because this seems to be bothering you a lot." She was taken aback by his statement, because she knew that she had to tell him, now. Whether it was a lie or not. But what good would lying do?

"I'm just bit lonely lately, it's nothing big. It's not even about you, huckleberry. Satisfied now?" Maya didn't wait for an answer. She slammed her locker shut (and Mr. Matthews screamed quietly) and walked away from Lucas, into the classroom, just as the bell rang. She might get in trouble with Riley.

Maya sort of felt bad, but she hadn't really lied to him. It was just...half the truth. She practically felt Lucas's eyes bore into the back of her head when Mr. Matthews had been teaching. She didn't turn around once during the lesson.

"So." Riley said, staring into Maya's eyes. And it was making her uncomfortable.  
"So." Maya echoed, trying to avert her gaze. It was harder than she had thought.  
"C'mon. Tell me why you told Lucas and not me."  
"He wouldn't stop bothering me! He's really pushy, you know."  
"What do you know that I don't?" Riley could tell that Maya was hiding something.  
"It's nothing." The blonde immediately said.

"Okay, fine. Then why are you avoiding Lucas?" Riley had a strange, triumphant expression of sorts on her face. Like she knew that Maya was going to have to tell her.

"What is it with you people and cornering me? It's not even about him, okay, Riley? I'm lonely. Big whoop. It's not a big deal." Maya had stood up mid-sentence, using hand gestures to emphasize her point.

"No, you've done it before. You kept saying you're fine, but you're avoiding him. Tell me why, and don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about. I've seen this before. I want an answer, and I want one now, Maya." The blonde was surprised at how powerful this bay window was.

"I thought it was clear I didn't want to talk about it, Riley." Maya said quietly, her eyebrows furrowed. She had crossed her arms, and did her best to be angry with Riley when all she really wanted to do was hug her and cry on her and tell her everything.

But she couldn't, because she was Maya.

After that, Maya refused to budge, and Riley had once again been unsuccessful.

Maya had begun walking into Mr. Matthews' classroom, before she saw Lucas and immediately backed out of the room. Lucas called after her, and jumped out of his seat to go talk to her.

"Sorry for pushing you so much the other day." Lucas sighed. "I get that you don't wanna talk about it." Maya said that it was okay before going off to go talk to Riley in the bathroom, because she promised she'd tell the brunette as much as she could bear. Maya still had no idea how she'd word this.

"Hey, Maya. You okay?" Riley said as soon as she saw her friend, by reflex. "Sorry. I know."  
"I promised I'd tell you, so I will. As much as I can. I'm a bit lonely at home because my mom has been taking the late shifts. That's it." Maya said, trying to rush it as much as she could.  
"So, why are you avoiding Lucas, of all people?"  
"I don't mean to," Maya lied quickly, and a pang of guilt hit her. She was lying to her best friend. But it was for Riley's own good, so it was okay, right? "It just sort of happens that way. I'm not doing it on purpose."  
"Okay, well...can I help?"  
"Not that I know of."  
"You can spend the night at my house for the next few weeks. Or however long you want."  
"Thanks, Riley." They went to class, Maya almost forgetting that it was Friday and to be excited.

At the end of the school day, Farkle had drama class, so Lucas took Riley and Maya out for ice cream. Because it was Friday. After a few protests, they had headed out to the nearest ice cream shop. Riley had gone out to grab her phone, and most likely answer a few calls from her parents. Lucas and Maya sat awkwardly in silence, somehow having ended up sitting next to each other.

Maya began thinking, and immediately told herself to stop. Because that would lead to thoughts about Lucas. She picked at her ice cream almost nervously, trying to think of boring things.

"How's the ice cream?" Lucas asked teasingly, because she was only poking at it with her spoon.  
"How's the whipped cream?" Maya responded, chuckling slightly. He had whipped cream on his nose, and Maya couldn't help but break into laughs.  
"What?"  
"You've got whipped cream on your nose." she responded, in-between laughs. When she'd finally calmed down, she leaned her head back against the wall behind her. She looked over at him, straightening out her head, only to find that their faces were extremely close. Closer than when they had began. What? "It's still there." Maya stated lamely.  
"I haven't wiped it off yet."  
"Yeah."

Maya had noted that he'd been moving closer as they spoke, and his lips barely brushed over hers. It was a peck, if you could even call it that, but it was so...Maya had no idea to describe it even to herself.  
What? Maya's thoughts were a hurricane, as she fully registered what just happened. ' _He kissed me. He kissed me!_ ' She thought dumbfoundedly.

"Lucas, I-"  
"I'm back! Sorry it took so long. My mom and dad both sent me like, twenty text messages." Riley came into the room, noticing the pair's expressions. "You guys okay? You looked a little spooked."  
"It-" Lucas began, before Maya interrupted.  
"We're fine. Everything's okay."

And the evening had then finished pretty quickly and abruptly, Lucas muttering something about a curfew, and Maya saying she thought her mom would be home a bit earlier than usual tonight.

And Maya didn't know what to do.


End file.
